Rock My World

rock my world: ironing board sam

janeharr — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 04:58:48 +0000

I just discovered Ironing Board Sam via this amazing 1960s live music program, Night Train, produced and filmed in Nashville, TN, that featured all kinds of great talent. This episode, done in my birthday year, 1965 (yes, I’m turning 50), features one of the first recordings of Jimi Hendrix playing back up in this performance by Ironing Board Sam, which really got my booty shakin’. I recognized the song, Sticks and Stones, but not the artist. So classic for this period where black artists who were routinely screwed were also often forgotten. As the clip conveys, he got his nickname from his electric keyboard, which he built from an ironing board. It has this squashed organ-like drone, which you still can hear under the shit recording. Its a rollicking ride.

So that led to me this short documentary, where I discovered he’s not only still alive and kickin’, but just produced a new record with two avid young musician fans, white boys, AKA “the sticks” (attached within link via soundcloud). As in Ironing Board Sam & the Sticks. Yes, pretty fucking funny name. Also awkward. Let’s just hope he gets paid. We can all help by listening and coughing up, ourselves. I’m just as guilty as anyone else. How do you refuse free? Its hard. I felt guilty for watching the doc on vimeo. We can all do better, esp. those of us who empathize. Am I right?

Regardless, I’m smitten with Ironing Board Sam’s electrifying gritty sound. Makes me wanna bounce! I so wish I could’ve lived in the era when people went out to dance practiced styles. I’ve often fantasized about being a professional dancer, the love of, along with singing, coming from my dad. He taught me the box step when I was about 5. My little feet placed on top of his as we moved across a sea of oriental rug. How cute is that? My daddy was the swinging-ist.

rock my world: goat and jumpsuits ( pas de deux)

janeharr — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 05:01:20 +0000

This is a mishmash post cuz I’ve been so remiss in my duties as mayor of dear old janestown – population of 1, ha – that I wanted to share something. Soooo here’s my new favorite band, Goat (contemporary Swedish pysch), and my new fashion obsession, jumpsuits (specifically vintage patterns, which I’ve just begun to collect). One day I’ld love to tweak them (including making adult versions of the kid’s patterns), and send my “appropriated” line down the runway accompanied by the song that made Goat my new favorite band, Gathering of Ancient Tribes (Commune, 2014). The models could carry baskets of magic mushrooms that they’d toss out like rose petals. Or whatever, I’m riffin here..

Just click on this link to a live show from 2013, scroll through the images, and imagine your own jumpsuit line. The images gathered here, btw, are from one of usual my late nite hunts on Ebay/Etsy. If you’re tiny enough, the two actual garments shown here are, I think, still available online (Google search ’em). As always, ENJOY. Here’s a pic of the band, too.

And BTW, if you’re in NYC, check out the exhibition I curated, From the Ruins…info. here! I will write more about that another time, but its why I’ve been too busy, along with end of semester crap, and the show’s programming, which included a great performance by the inimitable M Lamar on the 21st, reviewed by PAPER (yay!), and an upcoming screening/talk with Jane & Louise Wilson on June 27th (all info. on the above link). HAPPY ALMOST SUMMER!

rock my world: neil young, crush-cum-crusader

janeharr — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 03:38:36 +0000

I remember getting out of bed really late one night, around the age of 11-12, with a flashlight at the ready, to tune in to a rare radio interview with Neil Young I was supposed to be sleeping through. Pressing my ear against the radio, swooning in some nocturnal communion with this man I’d begun to revere. The influence of an older brother. My obsession continued through high school, and this is humiliating, so never bring it up in person, haha!, but I used to sign yearbooks with “Neil Young is #1!” LOL. And my nickname with my BFF, Maria, was “Cinneman Girl” (hers was Wild Child, after The Doors). Watching archival footage like this live BBC show from 1971 would’ve made me cream my panties back then; that long hair, willowy silhouette and awkward prettiness was so sexy. I’m actually crushing all over again watching and listening to him!! And OF COURSE I memorized every word to every song:) so I can sing along. Check it out though as he’s uncharacteristically ebullient in this performance. Its sweet.

Anyway, I began to stray in the 1980s, always appreciating his desire to experiment and fail, the mark of a true artist, IMHO, and I bought Trans, 1982. but my sensibility shifted more post punk By the early 2000s, I hardly ever played his music, it felt so wedded to that silly high school girl, a nostalgic thing.Then one day at The Carlyle, that famed hotel, after meeting with this tacky Sante Fe collector who wanted to hire me to “curate” something, there in the lobby was NEIL. Maybe 10 feet in front of me, leaving through the side door with his entourage. The obsessive fan possessed me again – fulfill your fantasy to meet him, was pushing myself – but I hesitated too long, too fearful that it would disturb him. Knowing he was such a private, taciturn guy. Eventually I followed them out onto the street where I caught a glimpse of him, sliding in his black suit into a dark sedan. I did ask one of his roadies, “Is that Neil?, what’s he in town for?” And he said, “yeah, its him, he’s here for an CSNY tour”. A few years later I slept with this beautiful guy, 15 years younger, who I bonded with – much to my surprise! – over a love for Neil (and he had the whole pretty boy, long hair, tall and thin thing going on). I realized then that with the whole 1970s culture revival, which strangely hasn’t abated, a whole new fan base for Neil Young would grow. Now music critics say he took Dylan’s baton in the 1970s, already elevating his significance – revisionist history: I teach it, I live it, it heartens me.

Maybe its the strong political messages, and distrust of fame are finally resonating again with a new generation, instead of being relegated to mom rock (or should that be dad rock), a “genre” I first encountered on artist Juliana Huxtable’s FB post about Sleater Kinney. HILARIOUS. Anyway, a few days ago it was announced wNeil Young, with a new band and Willie Nelsons sons (!!), was working on an “ANTI-MONSATO” album, and social media’s been abuzz ever since. A NME piece on it leads with a funny, flatfooted quote that’s so Neil: “No auto tune was used and no ears were harmed in the making”, but even Check out his recent album Storytone, which is like a prelude, at least in ts initial song, “Whose Gonna Stand Up” with lyrics like: “damn the dams save the rivers starve the takers feed the givers, stand up to oil, protect the plants,…whose going to stand up and the earth, whose gonna take on the big machine, this all starts with you and me”…there’s a solo version followed by a symphonic version, the latter an earnest plea with a Broadway tone that’s a wee goofy, and each song is given its orchestral version, btw, which is another classic foray of his into territory untread. the songs that follow are reminiscent of a sweeter, grandpa Neil. Its like he’s channeling Pete Seeger.

And FYI, I actually tried to photograph one of my year books, only to realize that my signature “Neil Young is #1!” would be found in someone else’s yearbook. What I did find though were some incredibly intimate and long “entries” by girlfriends (I went to an all girls’ Catholic high school) that were so touching. And serious! Full of darkness. Rreminded me why particularly in my teens I was so attached to this man and his music. It was a real emotional attachment. I guess that’s what I wanted to convey to him in that split second siting in The Carlyle. It was always the moody and (alternately) rancorous sides of his work I liked best, I guess I instinctively responded to the emotion as well as the songwriting. In some ways, I always thought of him as father grunge.

December 1969, San Diego, California, USA — Neil Young plays his vintage Gretsch White Falcon during a sound check at Balboa Stadium just before a Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young concert. — Image by © Henry Diltz/CORBIS

rock my world: two of my favorite broads

janeharr — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 05:59:57 +0000

All it took was this song to make me fall head over heels for La Lupe’s voice, and the way she used it, her manic pacing, always ahead of the band, her growling and mewling. She reminds me of another great favorite of mine, Betty Davis, who I was so obsessed with for a while that I was trying to arrange to meet and interview her via her label (who had the good sense to reissue some of her work). Fierce talented women who, notably, also wrote many of their own songs.

There are no vids to be found of the later performing live (I was happily surprised to see that recent Wiki entry), and just a few for La Lupe, who has this crazy sexy frantic energy going on on stage — its so worth watching. And yes, she’s a little nuts, the voudou priestess to Celia Cruz’s perfect diva, as awkward as she is sexy. J’dore her, AND witness how hard she works to deliver. Her life story is pretty amazing too as the PBS doc conveys. She was born Lupe Yoli, and grew up in a tiny town outside Santiago de Cuba, so small it wasn’t on the map. Still, she became so wildly popular that Castro (supposedly) told her to leave Cuba because she was getting too much attention!

Betty Davis, briefly married to Miles Davis, lovers with Jimi Hendrix, also has an interesting story, the link to her label above gives the highlights. She never got the same fame or attention, though, her raunchy blues style being too raw for most labels to market, and too badass for 1970s radio. This odd little medley of some of her work isn’t a bad introduction, I guess, but here’s one of my favs that I think gives a better sense of her best work. (In my getting links for this post I just saw that somehow I missed this tribute at the Schomburg in 2011:(). She more or less went into hiding outside Pittsburgh in the mid-1980s.

Both of these artists excite and inspire me, for their octane energy and sexual abandon, of course, but also for being women who dared to take up more space than society allotted them, especially in the entertainment industry. Its one of my criteria for “my favorite broads” list, btw, which I need to update (someone who transgresses in this way). Anyway, listen to La Lupe and Betty Davis, and if you aren’t immediately smitten/inspired, you don’t have a pulse, haha! Naturally, it helps that they were both sultry vixens!

vignettes of the nite LVV: “come on down to the store”

janeharr — Sun, 18 May 2014 05:15:01 +0000

Tonite I listened to Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation, 1988, for the first time in years, and I was reminded of how much I like the song, The Sprawl. Kim Gordon wrote the lyrics, and while there’s been much speculation as to what they mean, according to the band’s biography, Goodbye 20th Century, 2009, they were based on “various mumblings of hookers and junkies on Eldridge Street” that she overheard and compiled. Having lived on Eldridge Street in the late 90s, I found that anecdote especially interesting. She probably lived further north than I did as my loft was in Chinatown just north of Grand St where there were no junkies or hookers (except in nearby Roosevelt Park). Although 10 years earlier who knows…

Anyway, as is my habit I found myself looking for live versions and came across this 1989 performance in Leeds. While the recording is shitty, there’s something extra vivid about the delivery, conveying who the band was then, still raw – witness the audience members freely stage-diving – if already critically acclaimed. Another vid from 2007, shot in HD, obviously offers much better sound quality (for the audience members as well, I’m sure), and is, by contrast, a study in fame and time. Watch them back to back and you’ll see what I mean.

“The Sprawl”

[Kim]
To the extent that I wear skirts
And cheap nylon slips
I’ve gone native
I wanted to know the exact dimension of hell
Does this sound simple?
Fuck you! Are you for sale?
Does ‘Fuck you’ sound simple enough?
This was the only part that turned me on
But he was candy all over Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and moreI grew up in a shotgun row
Sliding down the hill
Out front were the big machines
Steel and rusty now I guess
Outback was the river
And that big sign down the road
That’s where it all startedCome on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
Come on down to the store
You can buy some more, and more, and more, and more
You can buy some more, more, more, more

vignettes of the nite XLV: unknown pleasures by joy division

janeharr — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 07:03:16 +0000

On my way home tonite from a dinner date I heard a Joy Division track in my favorite Williamsburg pizzeria (I was still hungry:). One of those mesmerizing deja vu moments.

So as soon as I got in the door, I put on Closer, 1980, then Unknown Pleasures, 1979, both albums on Youtube, and I was reminded of what an ambitious, thoughtful debut the latter was.

SUCH A GREAT RECORD, a sound that’s influenced so many bands ala Interpol, whose debut phase I remember well. Anyway, I say if you’ve never heard Unknown Pleasures, give it a listen! And if you do know it, hear it again! And if you want to get obsessive, this tribute blog to the record is like a pop dissertation — I love it! Long live Ian.

vignettes of the nite XLI: wild thing comes out of the closet

janeharr — Tue, 04 Mar 2014 04:56:40 +0000

This really great article by Kid Congo on coming out of the closet got me thinking about this idea of loving rock’n’roll before knowing it was about sex. He talks about this experience, mentioning “Who Wears Short Shorts” by The Royal Teens and “Blue Moon” by The Marcels. For me it was “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. I remember being in my friend Vicki’s basement when her older half-sister Pam, who lived down there, first played this 45 on her record player. I was immediately engaged. Somehow I knew there was something mysteriously adult about it, and that the sound was cool. What can I say, it “mooooved me”:) I must’ve been about 7.

Pam was a lot older than us and lived part-time with her mother, and the song was quite dated by then, but she loved it and played it a lot in the perpetual gloom of her bedroom. Of course, one could argue that the song – written by Chip Taylor – was best covered by Jimi Hendrix in whose hands it becomes operatic, and or even The Runaways (Amanda Lear’s version is so dull), but I will always remember the riff-less original by The Troggs most fondly, with this X cover, for equally nostalgic reasons (I used to dance to it), coming second.

(I did come across this really fun version by Humans, 1980, that I’d never heard before, and this live performance by The Runaways, is hotness!)

ENJOY!

vignettes of the nite XL: the academy awards, vicariously

janeharr — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 06:29:10 +0000

(“A commercial society whose members are essentially ascetic and indifferent in social ritual has to be provided with blueprints and specifications for evoking the right tone for every occasion.” Marshall McLuhan)

C’mon, its funny!

I missed the Academy Awards tonite, but I had to share Justin Vivian Bond’s tweets, which I cut-and-pasted from v’s FB wall. There should be a book of JVB zingers and witticisms, the likes of which tonite, from what I hear, were funnier than Ellen’s! JVB is such a sardonic wit, check out Putin is the New Kitty Litter , from her vid series, The Drunk News, to see what I mean.

Following JVB’s tweets are a couple of FB posts made by Prince Terrence, (a NYC-based DJ), that I also found funny. I was going to post a whole thread I came upon about Gabourey Sidibe’s weight, where people were alternately mean, embarrassed or worried for her, but I won’t add to the scrutiny. As I commented, much of it seemed misguided and unhealthy, the very criticisms being waged at her, as IMHO its her life and her career and there are far more productive ways to address issues of health and obesity. She must be so overwhelmed by fame and the spotlight that any defensive posture on her part they read as arrogance has to be understandable. Still, I guess its the same as when people get very disturbed by seeing someone anorexic, they insist it must be addressed, its life-threatening, etc. I don’t know, for me there’s a fine line between collective concern and moral bullying when it comes to dealing with the idea of self-harm…

As for the best dressed lists, W’s picks make me think I didn’t miss much, sartorially speaking (Tina Fey’s dress, srsly?), and British Vogue left me equally blah (though I loved the trend of navy/inky blue). Pharrell and Helen Lasichanh both in suits by Lanvin did make me happy, though!

The best thing about Jennifer Lawrence is that I prefer to watch her act more than anything else she does. #Oscars2014

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